Atlanta Senior Life - April 2022 by Atlanta Senior Life from Reporter Newspapers

DISCOVER THE RETIREMENT YOU’VE ALWAYS WANTED 770-765-0607

APRIL 2022 • Vol. 7 No.4 • AtlantaSeniorLIFE.com

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Senior athletes go for the gold

New columnist! Thinking Healthy with Shelly Howell page 10

Rightsizing Tackling spring cleaning page 20

Contents APRIL 2022

COVER STORY

athletes still 4 Senior go for the gold

8 PEOPLE Tucker volunteers promote walking for wellness

HEALTH 10 PERSONAL AS COVID restrictions loosen, it’s time to get back in shape

12 TRAVEL Exploration closer to home yields a Toccoa travelogue

THE CRATES 14 FROM Like a boss

16 GARDENING Gardens bursting, nurseries teasing and patience needed

SAFETY 18 PERSONAL Even on Ga. 400, slow down and keep things mellow

PLANNING 20 PERSONAL It’s spring! Time to clean

out the closets

22 ARTS Peace and Purpose: The Artwork of Hedith Perdomo

On the cover DISCOVER THE RETIREMENT YOU’VE ALWAYS WANTED 770-765-0607

APRIL 2022 • Vol. 7 No.4 • AtlantaSeniorLIFE.com

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Senior athletes go for the gold

Senior track star Linda Lowery models some of the medals she’s won. Photo by Kaitlin Kolarik

New columnist! “Thinking Healthy “ with Shelly Howell

Visit Atlanta Senior Life online by scanning this QR Code

PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY Organize your digital files

Rightsizing Tackling spring cleaning

Editorial Joe Earle Editor joe@springspublishing.com

Advertising For information call (404) 917-2200, ext 1002 Neal Maziar Chief Revenue Office neal@springspublishing.com

Published By Springs Publishing

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© 2022 All rights reserved. Publisher reserves the right to refuse editorial or advertising for any reason. Publisher assumes no responsibility for information contained in advertising. Any opinions expressed in print or online do not necessarily represent the views of Atlanta Senior Life or Springs Publishing

Contributors Erica Copenhaver, Shelly Howell, Kaitlin Kolarik, Greg Levine, Kelly McCoy, Isadora Pennington, Logan C. Ritchie, Steve Rose, Gene Rubel, Charles Seabrook Rico Figliolini Creative Director Steve Levene Founder & Publisher Emeritus

page 20

page 10

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COVER STORY

Senior athletes still go for the gold By Joe Earle Vince Obsitnik started running decades ago just as a way to stay in shape. At age 84, despite heart surgeries and hip repairs, he still runs for exercise several times a week. Back in the 1990s, after talking to a friend who also was a runner, Obsitnik decided to try a marathon. “I thought, ‘Is it possible I could run 26 miles?’” he said. It was. Obsitnik ran his first marathon in 1994, when he was in his mid-50s. In the quartercentury-plus since, he’s run seven of the 26-mile road races, he said, and many more half-marathons. He figures he’s run more than 9,000 miles in the past 20 years. He’s run in places scattered from Boston to South Carolina to New York to Ohio to Slovakia, he said. He ran the Slovakian marathon in 2008, when he was U.S. ambassador to that east European country, where he was born. “I wasn’t the fastest, for sure,” he said. “But it was nice news clip.” What keeps him going? “It’s a great challenge,” said Obsitnik, who emigrated to the U.S. with his family in 1938, when he was two months old. “It makes you feel good. It keeps you healthy, and I do it because I can do it. Thank the Lord, everything’s working. I do it because I like it.” And he likes to compete. In May, Obsitnik, a retired corporate executive who now lives in Peachtree City, will join thousands of other senior athletes in Florida in a special

athletic competition, the National Senior Games. Obsitnik ran 5-kilometer and 10-kilometer races in the senior games in 2019 and plans to compete again in those events in the 2022 games. The 2022 games are scheduled for May 10-23 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The first National Senior Games were held in 1987 in St. Louis. They have been staged

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every other year since, except last year, when, due to the COVID pandemic, the 2021 games were delayed until this year. They attract thousands of competitors aged 50 or older. In 2019, the games offered competitions in 20 different sports, from archery to volleyball, and attracted 13,882 athletes, according to the games’ webpage.

Competitors must be older than 50 and qualify for the national games by finishing at or near the top of their age groups in state competitions. As of the end of January, 184 athletes who qualified for the national competition through the 2021 Georgia Golden Olympics, the state qualifying tournament, had registered to take part in

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the national games, said Vicki Pilgrim, executive director of the Georgia games. For awards, competitors are divided into groups based on age so they can be compared with others of roughly the same age, Pilgrim said. The groupings divide the competitors into five-year brackets: 50 to 55, 60 to 65, and so forth, up to age 100, Pilgrim said. “We did have a guy who turned 100 last year,” she said. “A golfer.” Linda Lowery of Smyrna, who’s 70 this year, said she has been competing in the Senior Games since she turned 53. Lowery, a retired DeKalb County physical education teacher and basketball and track coach, has collected stacks of medals in the biennial national games and Georgia’s annual Golden Olympics. Lowery has claimed gold in various sports, including the long, high and triple jumps, and taken part in competitions spread from Pittsburgh to San Francisco. In May, she said, she plans to compete in the 50-meter run, the long, high and triple jumps, and cornhole events. What keeps her going back? “From high school through this point, I’ve just been trying to stay in shape by playing [sports],” she said. “It keeps me in shape, and I get a chance to meet a lot of people, and I get a chance to travel to places I’ve never been.” Some senior games participants get the chance to tackle less familiar sports. Janice and Scott Mozley said they first took part in the Georgia Games about 11 years ago, after Janice reached age 50, the qualifying age for the games. “Scott said, ‘They’ve got all these sports. Let’s try something,’” recalled Janice, who’s now 61. They’d long enjoyed competing in sports. Janice played tennis and basketball in high school and fast-pitch softball until her late 30s. Scott Mozley, now 71, played baseball and basketball in high school and junior college. They heard about the Georgia

Nancy and Tom Lovingood

The Georgia Boys. Left to right: Kevin Baldwin, Frank Dalton, Tony Brizzolera, Warren Prehmus, Arnie Whitman, Alan Johnson

Golden Olympics and thought that once Janice turned 50, the entry age for the games, that these Olympics offered a way the couple could compete as a team. “This gives us something fun and goals to achieve,” Janice Mozley said.

That first year, they decided to compete in badminton. They set up a net in their back yard and played with their kids. They felt pretty good about their chances going in, Janice Mozley said, but things changed once they got to the Games and saw their

competitors. “People walked out on the court with – not tennis bags, but badminton bags!” she said. “I didn’t even know they made those. … We thought we’d gotten really good at badminton…. We weren’t as good as we thought we were.” Still, “we had a ball,” Scott said. “It was a great coming-together of good people wanting to stay fit.” This year, they won gold medals in pickleball, a game they discovered shortly before they retired from Grayson to Lake Oconee a few years ago. Janice Mozley first saw the game demonstrated during a corporate retreat four or five years ago. “I came back to the hotel and told Scott, ‘We are doing this!’” Pickleball, a fast-paced combination of tennis, badminton and ping-pong that has been growing in popularity in recent years, seemed to fit the two of them. They learned the game and started competing together in various tournaments, joining with friends so they can Continued on page 6

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Continued from page 5

mix and match as doubles, singles and mixed doubles teams. In May, for the 2022 National Senior Games, the Mozleys and four other couples are renting a house in Hollywood, Fla., Janice Mozley said. Four of the couples will be playing pickleball, she said. Nancy and Tom Lovingood, who live in Hall County, will be tackling quite different sorts of sports. She’s a swimmer. He’s a golfer and bowler. They keep their medals from past senior competitions hanging in the office of their home. The games, they said, provide inspiration to keep competing in sports. “When you go to these meets, you see people in their 80s. It’s inspiring,” Nancy Lovingood said. “It keeps you moving. It gives you a goal. … It helps you stay focused.” It also builds friendships, said Warren Prehmus, the 66-year-old captain of The Georgia Boys, a

Vince Obsitnik

Linda Lowery

Upcoming games

The 2022 National Senior Games are scheduled for May 10-22 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. For more: ngsa.com The 2022 Georgia Golden Olympics are scheduled for Sept. 27-Oct. 1 in Warner-Robins. The registration deadline is Aug. 1. Athletes competing this year can qualify for the 2023 National games to be held in Pittsburgh, Pa. For more: georgiagoldenolympics.org

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3-on-3 basketball team that has been collecting gold medals at the Georgia and national games for more than a decade. “I love to play ball,” said Prehmus, a financial planner who lives in Peachtree Corners. “It’s a chance to compete. Also, because our team has really developed close relationships. There’s something about being on teams together that other things don’t do. We lift each other up.” Prehmus said he played basketball in high school in upstate New York and college in Vermont and kept playing after he moved to Atlanta in the mid1980s. The Georgia Boys, he said, have won gold at the Georgia games a dozen times, including last year, and collected gold medals at the national games five times. They’ve traveled the world playing in tournaments. How many medals has Prehmus collected? “I’ve got a

couple of shoeboxes full,” he said. His teammates have scattered a bit in recent years. A couple of them moved to Florida and one moved San Diego. Prehmus himself had surgery recently and won’t be able to play in May, but his team will be competing in the senior games. He plans attend and coach. And, he said, he intends to be back on the court himself by the end of the year. Senior distance runner Obsitnik said his goal is to keep competing for as long as he can. “I don’t have any date to stop.” he said. “I plan to keep going as long as my body can go. It’s better than sitting around doing nothing and waiting for the final day to come.” After all, age is just another number on a competitor’s sign-in sheet. “I don’t think about age,” Obsitnik said. “Age doesn’t enter my mind.”

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PEOPLE

Walking on sunshine: Tucker volunteers form an all-ages movement to walk for wellness By Logan C. Ritchie At the height of the COVID pandemic, there were two fail-safe modes of socializing: virtual meetups or meeting outdoors. Lois Ricci, a Registered Nurse, expert on aging and professor of gerontology, heartily engaged in both. Her buoyancy and vitality are not surprising to those who know Ricci, an 80-yearold Tucker resident. She never stops asking questions and she loves listening to different perspectives. During the pandemic, Ricci helped bring America Walks to her community.

The national program focuses on improving access to public paths. Ricci believes getting people walking will help improve their health. Her goal is to build all-ages walking groups across Tucker and to conclude the year with a community celebration in November. “It’s not about age,” Ricci said. “It’s about aging well.” Her first step was to take a six-month leadership course called The Walking College. Participants were paired with mentors to learn the historical underpinnings of a car-centric society, basic design and policy of nonmotorized transportation and Lois Ricci and her husband John walk daily in their Tucker neighborhood (Photo by Logan C. Ritchie )

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how to create safe, accessible communities. Next, participants created a blueprint for taking action in their communities. Ricci’s message is that anyone of any ability can be active. “Anybody can be out there walking,” Ricci said. “Whether you have a cane or a walker or a wheelchair, you should be out there socializing and interacting.” Ricci enlisted volunteers to promote walking through a committee she chairs, Tucker Lifelong Community. It’s an arm of the Tucker Civic Association that focuses on maintaining an age-friendly community designation through the World Health Organization. A walking program fits right in, using seven of eight domains to address barriers to seniors’ wellbeing and participation in their communities. The

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domains are community and healthcare, transportation, social participation, outdoor spaces, housing, respect and social inclusion, civic participation and employment, and communication and information. Fellow Tucker Lifelong Community volunteer Tommy Lupo is a biking and walking advocate. In fact, he has never owned a car. Lupo said since his hip replacement three years ago, walking has become his main mode of transportation. He prefers walking around

parks, particularly the trails at Johns Homestead in Tucker. Lupo’s role in the America Walks program is to map out walking routes by length and difficulty for people of all abilities, using tools like AllTrails.com and Safe Routes to School. The goal of America Walks? To make walking safer, to engage more residents in exercise and to socialize. Education is a big part of the movement, too. “Walkers and bikers can be mutually respectful by calling out to each other, and

drivers can be more aware of blocking sidewalks when they’re pulling out,” said Lupo, who is a proponent of Complete Streets, a policy to ensure safety, comfort and access for all people. “Cities can improve walkability with sidewalks, lighting and slower speeds.” Ricci and Lupo said they’re actively recruiting individual walkers, walking groups and volunteers. The team is working on a website linked to Tucker Civic Association with information on walking routes, scheduled events, supporting information and more.

Walking is one of the best forms of exercise, Ricci said. It’s the most underrated, fat-burning, brain-boosting, healthy thing you can do at no cost. “Physical fitness leads to mental fitness,” Lupo said.

For more, go to americawalks.org or contact Tommy Lupo at wolf1069@aol.com or Lois Ricci at loisricci@bellsouth.net.

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PERSONAL HEALTH

As COVID restrictions loosen, it’s time to get back in shape thinking healthy Shelly Howell is the author of “Don’t be a Wuss: Inspiration for a great life after 60.”

Before the COVID pandemic hit in 2020, Millie Howell led a comfortable, independent life into her 80s. At age 83, she met friends for bridge, sang in a choir and drove herself to errands every day. She wasn’t running marathons

A chair stand (Photo courtesy Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

or pumping iron, but she worked part-time at her custom window business and took care of her four-bedroom house by

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herself. But like many Americans, she withdrew during the COVID lockdown from anything that

could expose her to the virus. She had groceries delivered, cancelled appointments, and stayed in her house. She even stopped running the vacuum. Last fall, after 18 months of isolation, Millie realized that although she had avoided COVID, she still was very weak. She fell several times and ended up in the hospital. “Studies are emerging suggesting many older adults, particularly those living with a chronic medical problem, experienced loss of mobility and functional status [the ability to perform daily tasks independently] during the pandemic. Increased isolation and lack of access to exercise facilities or group classes during lockdown periods are likely contributors,” explains Dr. Camille P. Vaughn, Director of

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Now Offering Tours Clinic Director at PT Solutions in Decatur. “The biggest barrier with exercise is that you don’t have an immediate result. It takes about six weeks at a minimum for gains to be measurable. But there are professionals out there who can help you get to your goals in a safe way.” Programs across Atlanta are designed to help seniors get and stay strong. YMCA locations host classes and many parks and recreation centers offer chair aerobics, water aerobics and conditioning for seniors. “One simple Millie Howell in physical therapy exercise is to do is a chair stand, also the Emory Center for Health in called a chair rise,” Vaughn said. Aging. A chair stand is moving from a Now that COVID restrictions sitting to a standing position. are lifting, many older adults “Chair stands help to are finding that it’s time to strengthen the thigh and start working on their physical buttocks muscles and will conditioning to recover strength improve stamina. As one’s and flexibility. But it’s not as strength grows, try to do easy as it was when we were chair stands without having young. to use hands. The Centers for “It is reasonable to schedule Disease Control and Prevention a visit with your primary care recommends chair stands to provider to determine if an prevent falls as well. assessment with a rehabilitation Other popular options specialist, such as a physical or include Tai Chi, walking occupational therapist, would be (and remember to use an helpful,” Vaughn said. assistive device if it has been “Online resources such as recommended by a physical those recommended by the therapist or your primary National Institute on Aging are care clinician), water aerobics, also available and tailored to and use of a stationary bike, the needs of older adults with particularly a recumbent bike, different mobility needs.” which can be easier to use Millie is my mother, and at in the presence of mobility 85, she needed a walker to get impairment.” around. She started physical I’m happy to say that Millie, therapy and moved in with a a self-proclaimed “stubborn family member who could get broad,” now is on the mend after her to appointments and watch five months of hard work. over her. The walker is in the closet. “Literally any age can We haven’t seen her vacuum build muscles. It might just yet, but I think there are other be a little slower than when reasons for that. you’re 20,” explained Spencer Baron, Physical Therapist and

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TRAVEL

Exploration closer to home yields a Toccoa travelogue Travels with Charlie Veteran Georgia journalist Charles Seabrook has covered native wildlife and environmental issues for decades. For “Travels with Charlie,” he visits and photographs communities throughout the state. Skyrocketing gas prices have put a crimp in my travel budget. Even so, I can’t stand staying cooped up at home. I’ll still be taking daytrips to explore Georgia’s towns and countryside. But for right now, until fuel costs go back down (if they ever do) my trips will be to destinations closer to home — shorter jaunts that won’t break my wallet for gas. One such outing recently took me to the city of Toccoa in Stephens County, nestled in northeast Georgia’s Blue Ridge Mountain foothills. In my 2018 Toyota Tacoma pickup, I burned less than a half tank of gas driving from my Decatur home to Toccoa, where I spent an enjoyable day visiting a spectacular waterfall, a wonderful museum, a state historic site — and the delightful town itself. Just north of town I visited the stunning Toccoa Falls on the campus of scenic Toccoa Falls College. At 186 feet high, Toccoa Falls is one of the tallest (taller than Niagara Falls) freefalling waterfalls east of the Mississippi. After paying a small entrance fee, I walked to the falls along a short, paved trail besides a mountain stream. Then, around a curve, the waterfall suddenly appeared; it took my breath away. I lingered on a bench at the base

APRIL 2022 | AtlantaSeniorLife.com

2 3

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of the falls to marvel at the great natural beauty. Six miles north of Toccoa, I went to a place straight out of Georgia’s history: Traveler’s Rest State Historic Site. Its centerpiece is an early tavern and inn built

between 1816 and 1825 on what was then Cherokee land. Enslaved people probably did much of the construction. Because of its architectural significance and role 9 in the early history of the area, Traveler’s Rest was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964. The state of Georgia beautifully maintains it, and visitors can see many of its original artifacts and furnishings. In the heart of Toccoa, I explored 10 one of Georgia’s best small museums, the Currahee Military Museum, housed in the town’s old railroad depot. The museum’s main focus is the Paratrooper Infantry Regiment that underwent exhaustive training just outside

town in the early 1940s at Camp Toccoa and Currahee Mountain. Some 6,000 of the men became qualified paratroopers in World War II. Scores of books and articles have been written about them. One of the books, “Band of Brothers” by Stephen Ambrose, became an award-winning HBO mini-series, some of which was filmed around Toccoa. One of the museum’s exhibits is a 1922 horse stable that was used as housing for soldiers during WWII in Aldbourne, England. The stable was dismantled and flown to the United States in 2004. In Toccoa, I stopped at the Paul Anderson Memorial Park to see the statue of Anderson, a Toccoa native and Olympian who held the title of “World’s Strongest Man.” Then I strolled through town. With its restored downtown, renovated Stephens County Court house, spiffed-up Ritz Theater and other historic buildings, it was obvious that Toccoans take great pride in their town.

1 — Statue of Toccoa native son Paul Anderson, once known as “World’s Strongest Man 2— 186-foot tall Toccoa Falls, one of the highest waterfalls east of the Mississippi 3 and 4 — Travelers Rest State Historic Site inn and tavern built between 1816 and 1825 5 — Stephens County Courthouse, c. 1908, in Toccoa is on the National Register of Historic Places 6 — Toccoa’s old railroad depot now houses the Currahee Military Museum 7 — James B. Simmons House, c. 1903, in Toccoa is on the National Register of Historic Places 8 — Restored historic Ritz Theater, c. 1939, in Toccoa 9 — Downtown Toccoa, much of which has been refurbished and restored 10 — Horse stable on display at the Currahee Military Museum (Courtesy of Stephens County Historical Society) Photos by Charles Seabrook

APRIL 2022 | AtlantaSeniorLife.com

FROM THE CRATES

Like a Boss from the crates Kelly McCoy is a veteran Atlanta broadcaster who writes about the days popular music only came on vinyl records, which often were stored in crates. I recently attended the funeral of my dear friend Dr. Hugh Harris West. A retired microbiology college professor, or “professuh,” as he would say in his suthun drawl. He could very easily been the most brilliant man I’ve ever known. Eloquent, sharp, smart, witty, charming, and naughty all

Gary Mack meets Rolling Stones

combined. His command of the English language intrigued this radio guy because we like to enunciate and pronounce things clearly and correctly. What’s a radio guy doing hanging out with a college

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professor? I have, or have had, friends on all levels of the game. Multimillionaires, dirt poor folks, people who live in anything from mansions to mobile homes. Some were highly educated; some, I’ve

wondered if they finished the third grade. People are people. I love them for who they are, not what they have or had, or what they do or have done. I even had a friend named Kelly McCoy who was Air Boss on the U.S.S. Nimitz. In previous columns, I’ve mentioned how great it is to tell the wonderful story of friends who are still alive. I’m a senior citizen writing a column for senior citizens to hopefully enjoy. The death of Dr. West triggered me to tell you about another living senior friend who was legendary in the world of radio. If you lived in L.A., Boston, New York, or Atlanta, you may recognize the name Gary Mack, the on-air name for Gary McDowell. His final stop in the business was his smallest market: Atlanta. In the 60s, AM radio was king. We heard the hits and the fast-talking Cisc jockeys through a speaker maybe the size of a silver dollar. Disc jockeys used terms like “groovy,” the 45-rpm records were “stacks of wax,” and other clever clichés rolled from the faceless voice coming out of the speaker. Radio humor: All radio guys claim to have a face for radio and a voice for newspaper. Top 40 radio was our main source for music in those days, and the Los Angeles market had Boss Radio KHJ and the Boss Jocks. “Boss” was to mean something hip and new and first-class exciting radio. Two legendary pioneers in radio programming, Bill Drake and Gene Chenault, came up with the package. Gary McDowell became Bill Drake’s right arm and was involved from West Coast to East Coast in the top markets. Being on the ground floor of what would be a radio station that people still talk about today was his sweetest gig. He was mid-day Boss Jock on 93 KHJ in Los Angeles. Let me assure you this was big-time radio with big-time talent and something special.

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Being with the original surfer dudes, making appearances all over the area and hanging out with recording and TV stars was a way of life. Imagine partying at Nancy Sinatra’s house. You run into Tom Jones. One night Adam West shows up wearing his Batman costume! Some of Gary’s biggest fans and friends were Sonny and Cher. KHJ “broke” their record, “I Got You Babe,” and was major part of their early career.

Gary once started a fan club for them and to be a member you had to send him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich through the mail. Sonny and Cher sent a sandwich along with a transistor radio playing KHJ. The post office wasn’t happy. There were 6,000 sandwiches sent! Why a PB&J? These were the sandwiches he fed the “live orchestra” in his control room. It was all imaginary of course. Radio was theater of the mind. Gary was big pals with The Monkees. A huge contest he once organized was called Last Train to Clarksville, after the Monkees’ first hit. It allowed

winners to take a train trip from L.A. to San Diego while the Monkees performed. Gary Mack did reports from the tracks from a two-way radio. Gary was on KHJ’s TV show with more star guests: Glen Campbell, the Fifth Dimension, the Rolling Stones, James Brown. The list of his adventures is endless. Boss Jocks had to travel in style. Gary had a powder blue 1964 Mustang and Cadillac Coup de Ville. In our little Atlanta is where we heard him on WLTA, the station that used the Tara Theme music at the top of the hour. His on-air stint ended there. We were office mates at Cox Radio in the old White Columns building. I worked for B98.5-WSB FM. He worked

for 750 WSB and was director of sports affiliates that, at various times, broadcast the Braves, the University of Georgia Bulldogs, Hawks or Falcons, and syndicated shows such as Neil Boortz’ and Clark Howard’s shows. I had no idea he was radio royalty until he brought in an old scrapbook. Holy God of Radio, this man did it right when radio ruled! I’ve only scratched the surface of Gary Mack stories. He’s still a dear friend, and as sharp and funny as ever. Gary and his wife Sue live in a warm climate in a very nice community he calls Wrinkle Wranch. A great man I am blessed to know him. Definitely a hero to this old radio dude…like a Boss.

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GARDENING

Gardens bursting, nurseries teasing and patience needed THE ENVIRONMENTAL GARDENER Greg Levine, co-executive director of Trees Atlanta, describes himself as happiest when his hands are in the dirt. There are lots of gardeners out there. Our motivations for gardening vary from growing our own food to attracting wildlife to personal artistic expression or creating a place of serenity. Some garden for stress relief, exercise or be connected to the natural world. If you are like me, you check all those boxes. And I am one of those gardeners who lack control when it comes to buying new plants in the spring. I can’t say, “no, you can’t come home with me, you strange purple cone flower.” (Which is actually an odd new red cultivar with gold stripes and, at best, a two year perennial). I have some advice — actually, a list of suggestions — for buying plants. 1. Focus on perennials and shrubs in the spring. You can plant trees, but they are better for planting in the winter. 2. Wait until April to plant tender plants. With annuals, unusual exotics, and vegetables, a late frost or freeze will damage new growth and can kill young annuals. We all saw our Asian magnolias and fringe tree get hit hard this year and they are tough trees. 3. Make room for your plants. Prepare the site and remove plants that you don’t like to make more room for the “right” plants. 4. Make a list of what you are looking for and how many you need. Yes, you will stray from this list, so treat it like a guide

so that you can buy the Indian pink that no gardener would say no to. I have about a dozen in my garden. Try not to tear up the list to relieve the guilt of completely ignoring it. 5. Don’t just buy annuals. Yes, they are showy, but you will love watching perennials pop up in the same location year after year, waking up from their winter rest. I have a royal fern that is about 4 feet wide. In the winter, its form is a piece of architecture reminding me that there is no room here for any other plants! For me, gardening includes caring for and nurturing plants year after year; perennials are like family that you like coming home to visit. Most of the native plants below have value for wildlife in some way or another, so I have divided them into sun and shade plants.

For Shade

▲Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) This plant has a delicate white flower that last a few days. The leaf is a blue green and stays under 6” tall. I like to mix it with native pachysandra and toad trillium. It can take average woodland soil that isn’t dry and can take deep shade to pine shade. It will create a nice patch if given the space and reseeds nicely too. It is called blood root as it bleeds red if you break the root or stem.

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a stick. The fronds are at the end of an 18” thin almost black stem. Spreading like rays in an umbrella fashion. It prefers soil to be on the moist side and needs full shade. Like broad beech fern, the trick to success is to put a small chunk of concrete or cinder block at the bottom of the planting hole as it likes a higher ph soil than most of us have in our gardens.

For Sun

▲Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum) Like bloodroot, it likes deep shade and it is an “ephemeral,” meaning that in drought or late summer heat, it will disappear until the next spring. It has an apple green leaf, prefers moist to almost-wet soils, looks like a lily pad on a stick or a umbrella and reaches a foot high. It makes an elegant groundcover, spreading easily when planted in the right place. It won’t flower until it has a double leaf, and it produces an edible fruit that is a favorite of the box turtle. The rest of the plant and seed is poisonous to eat.

▲Northern maidenhair fern (Adiantum pedatum) This is my favorite fern. It is like a fern on

▲Amethyst Falls native wisteria (Wisteria frutescens ‘Amethyst Falls’) This native wisteria is the only wisteria to plant in the southeast! This cultivar needs full sun and has a fragrant flowers reaching about 5” long. This vine is a twining vine and unlike the beautiful Asian species, it is not a very aggressive grower and will not choke trees to death. It is the host plant for Zarucco Duskywing and LongTailed Skipper butterflies and like all legume plants will fix nitrogen in your soil. Purple Muhly Grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris) This grass prefers moist soils and full sun. The pink flowers and fuzzy seed head look a bit like cotton candy are very much appreciated color in the fall. The faded seed head gives a nice silhouette in the winter. In mild winters the grass can be almost evergreen.

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404 618 0364 ▲Blazing Star (Liatris spicata) I admit that I have had little success with blazing stars, although I am told they are easy to grow. The purple flowers are striking. It likes full sun and average to dry soil. It is a host plant to the lovely Glorious Flower Moth, which is able to camouflage itself on the flower stalk. There are lots of plant sales that support your favorite non-profits and help test your restraint. Of course, there is Trees Atlanta’s sale. There are many more including the Chattahoochee Nature Center, Oakland Cemetery, Georgia Native Plant Society, Woodlands Garden and Georgia Audubon.

Trees Atlanta holds plant sales in April Trees Atlanta plans to hold sales of native plants on April 2 and April 9. The April 2 sale is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Carter Center, 453 John Lewis Freedom Parkway NE. The April 9 sale is set for 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Kendeda Center, 225 Chester Avenue SE. For more: treesatlanta.org/plantsale

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PERSONAL SAFETY

Even on Ga. 400, slow down and keep things mellow STAY SAFE Steve Rose is a retired Sandy Springs Police captain, veteran Fulton County police officer and freelance writer. He is the author the book “Why Do My Mystic Journeys Always Lead to the Waffle House?” and the column “View from a Cop.”

I work part-time in Sandy Springs and live in Forsyth County, 32 miles north, right on the cusp of Dawsonville, where local ordinances require one to have at least one NASCAR number on the rear window and a copy of the Dawsonville Pool Room menu in the glove box. Getting to and from work puts me on Ga. 400. I have driven

on and enforced traffic on Ga. 400 since right after it was built and stretched only as far south

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as Northside Hospital. The concrete median barrier was once a grassy stretch between the north and southbound lanes, offering a nice spot for running Doppler radar. By the way, most folks associate Doppler radar with weather radar, that giant circling line that, when it turns from yellow to red, the weather reporter rolls his sleeves up and undoes his tie as you run for the basement, then back for the nachos you just microwaved, then back to the basement. The older speed detection devices were of the Doppler variety, named after Christian Doppler, who discovered what is called “The Doppler Effect.” He proved how the frequency of light and sound waves is affected by the relative motion of the source and the detector. Doppler radar shot a signal at the target area. Once the car entered the area, the signal bounced back and forth, each time measuring a different distance, and formulated speed. It was said that Doppler’s flaw was that at times it succumbed to interference from stationary objects. Many billboard lawyers used this defense in court, as would I, quite frankly. (Side

note, my personal best was a pine tree at 94 MPH.) Once the vehicle came into the Doppler zone, it created a whining sound that grew louder as the vehicle approached, waking the operator, who had fallen off for a quick 10-minute, 2 a.m. nap. Eventually, Doppler became obsolete, replaced by several newer generations of radar and eventually, laser. Laser is “point and click.” That is all I know. I see ads for jamming devices but I do not know what is or is not effective so I will not expand on it. Back to Ga. 400. If you travel Ga. 400 frequently, you will see those who have no regard for safety, theirs or yours, as they zip in and out of traffic lanes. I thought evening rush hour(s) were the worst, but lately, the morning drive appears to compete quite nicely. I find it odd that anyone would want to get to work that quickly. I am quite sure those who speed in and out of lanes — especially those on motorcycles (that, at times, hit well over 100 mph) — have seen up close what impact does to the human body at such speeds. Here is a hint: it ain’t pretty.

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We are not at our best behind the wheel. In fact, we become that selfish ____ (&$($&) that everyone hates to see on the road. We tend to think of our cars as individual kingdoms that call for a quick response to challenges by anyone who dare to impede our journey! As drivers, we drop down on the mental food chain of life, to that just below the brightly colored Poison Dart Frog of Central and South America, an animal that looks for trouble. That is how bad we are behind the wheel. Vehicle engineering prioritizes safety. Racecars, such as NASCAR and Formula 1 racers, are designed to absorb and displace the energy of a crash. Major car manufacturers follow along those same lines, but at high speeds seatbelts and airbags may not keep your body from extensive injury.

The interior of a car can collapse from the force of impact and speed, leaving no room for the human inside. That’s a done deal with no doover. Motorcycles at 100 mph? At that speed, and I am not exaggerating the speed, there is no time to react to the lane change by the car whose driver last saw you one second ago a quarter mile back. The philosophy that comes from all this is that speed on the highway is never your friend— unless you are running from dinosaurs or athletic zombies. Slow down. Use the 70-RightMellow Rule: 70 mph, right lane and play some mellow tunes. I suggest old soft rock, nothing by AC/DC mind you. Leave that for riding mower on Saturdays. Mellow tunes will get you there.

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The Atlanta-Journal Constitution is committed to facilitating conversations on the topics important to aging well in Atlanta and providing you resources to live your best senior life — especially in today’s challenging environment.

Visit us at ajc.com/aging to access recordings of our virtual events, sign up for the newsletter, and learn more about upcoming events You’ll find plenty of 55+ focused content there as well as links to our previously published sections and events. Look for our upcoming sections on April 3 and May 1st in your Atlanta Journal-Constitution print and ePaper editions.

APRIL 2022 | AtlantaSeniorLife.com

PERSONAL PLANNING

It’s Spring! Time to clean out the closets! RIGHTSIZING Erica Copenhaver is project coordinator for the MicroLife Institute in Atlanta It’s that time of year again. The sun is shining, the flowers are blooming, and our closets are overflowing with gifts from the holiday season and last year’s clutter. We all know what that means—it’s time for Spring Cleaning! Spring Cleaning can be a daunting task for anyone, so here are some tips to downsizing what you can on your own, with the help of friends or family, and even with professional help. The first step to downsizing is to take a good look at the things you currently own. Clothes, furniture, décor, books, old knickknacks, everything. Once you understand what you have, it will be easier to determine what you do and don’t need anymore. Notice areas in your home that might make you feel stressed. These are usually areas with too much clutter. Maybe it’s where you keep

that chair you keep meaning to get reupholstered, or that table you know you want to refinish. Now’s the time to make decisions. The first option is to take whatever first step you need to take towards fixing things to your liking. Schedule the drop-off for a chair or buy new stain for the table. Otherwise, donate those items that need work to someone who will love them as they already are, and free yourself of the responsibility of having to do it yourself. Now look back at those areas that just feel too cluttered. This may be your bookshelves, your home office, or most often, your closets. Take the time to really be honest with yourself and understand how the space you live in makes you feel. To borrow from Marie Kondo’s KonMari method, take each item in these cluttered areas in your hands and ask yourself, “does this spark joy?” Sometimes we hold onto things that no longer bring us joy. There can be many reasons for this. Maybe the item was given to us and we would feel bad giving it away. Maybe we spent

APRIL 2022 | AtlantaSeniorLife.com

enough money on the item that we feel obligated to keep it. Ultimately, whatever the reason, if the item does not make you happy anymore, it no longer belongs in your home. As you are going through your items, especially clothing, there may be pieces that you are completely undecided about. One of my favorite ways to handle this is the “out of sight, out of mind” trick. To do this, place the clothes you are unsure about in a box, and set them aside for at least one month. If you never feel the need to dig them out of the box to wear them, then it’s time to donate them. Another great way to get into the spring-cleaning spirit is to do a clothes trade with friends and family. This is great if you want to make sure those special items that you just don’t wear anymore find a new owner who you know will cherish them. This is also the perfect way to freshen up your wardrobe sustainably, and without breaking the bank. Just make sure to give away more than you take home! You can also work out a home cleaning system with a small group of friends or family. Each week, take one day to all work together to clean up one person’s home. Then move on to a different home the next week, and so on until everyone’s home is ready for spring! With all of you pitching in it can even make cleaning fun! If the prospect of downsizing is just too daunting—and let’s be honest,

The first step to downsizing is to take a good look at the things you currently own... Once you understand what you have, it will be easier to determine what you do and don’t need anymore. it certainly can be—don’t despair. There are professional services designed to help you get through it. First consider what you personally want to get out of downsizing. Then bring your goals and vision to a professional, and they’ll take care of the rest. Feel free to contact us for recommendations of downsizing/decluttering professionals near you. All in all, there is no wrong way to downsize your way to happiness. I know some things are hard to let go of, even when you no longer need them. So, break up the process into small tasks, take as much time as you need, and be sure to ask for help when you need. Then you’re on your way, downsizing your way to happiness!

If you try any of these tips or want to share your own, let us know at thoughts@ microlifeinstitute.org.

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PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

Organize Your Digital Files digital device doctor Gene Rubel the Digital Device Doctor, cures digital anxiety for seniors and home/ home-office users. A graduate of Harvard Business School, “Doctor Gene” spent more than 30 years in international business. He can be reached at generubel@gmail.com. Picture this: You have an island in your kitchen, and all your pots and pans – and all your food – are piled up on the island while your cupboards are bare. Absurd? Yes, it is. But it’s the way a lot of computer desktop screens look. It seems like every file or folder stored on some peoples’ computers was just stuck on that single screen with neither rhyme nor reason. However, you can bring order to chaos with a little thought.

than a pencil (or pen) and a sheet of paper. The best way to get started is to look at all the files and folders on your desktop and create columns of broad categories. Think of these as filing cabinet drawers. They can be Documents, Pictures, Music, Videos, Recipes, etc. In each column, create lists of subfolders for each category. We suggest you keep music, pictures and video in the top-level folders. Within each category you can create new subfolders, and you can create as many levels as you like. For example: ■ If you took a trip to Italy in 2019 and visited Rome and Florence over a one-week period, then you could create a subfolder in Pictures called Italy 2019. In that subfolder, you could create two subfolders: Florence and Rome, and then create a new subfolder within each city for each day. We find this helpful because you may want to combine photos from more than one phone and/or camera. ■ If you have a lot of music files, you can separate them by genre, such as subfolders for

come in a variety of formats, such as PDF and Excel files and a variety of graphics-based files.)

What’s in a Name?

Here are two more things to keep in mind as you set up your filing system. First, it’s better to have too few folders than too many. If you only have one or two files in a folder, it’s easy for them to hide in layers of subfolders, and your search efforts will be hampered when you need to access the file. Second, we like to use “smart names” for folders and files to take advantage of a computer’s search capabilities. The easiest way to make your file names smarter is to add dates. You can have a folder of bank statements for 2022, and you can name it My Bank 2022. Then, for the statements, you can name the files Jan 2022 or Statement0122 and continue with that naming system for each month.

Follow Your Money

Set Up Folders

First, keep in mind that organizing files electronically is like having a free-form filing cabinet. You can create as many drawers and file folders as you like, depending on how you want to organize everything. Second, nothing works better for starting your organizing

Broadway tunes, jazz, classical, etc. You can further divide them by show name, artist, composer, etc. Documents can be more complex to organize, though the principles are the same. There’s no set way to organize them; it’s all about how you’ll know where to look. (Note that, in addition to Word files, “documents” can

faster. ■ Within your system of Finances folders, you can have

Your financial files are good example of the many ways you can organize files to meet a specific need: tracking your money. Here is one plan you could follow: ■ Within Documents, create a subfolder called Finances to follow your computer’s logic and human intuition. ■ Under Finances, create new subfolders, such as Banking, Investment, Credit Cards, etc. ■ Within each of those, create a subfolder for each bank, each investment company, each credit card, etc. – and within each of those you can create a subfolder for each year. You can use years, months and even specific days in your folder and file names to find information

a variety of file types in any subfolder. You can follow the same principles with photo and video files, and even with emails. With pictures and videos, we’ve found it helpful to file them by event -- i.e., someone’s birthday, a specific vacation, etc. Again, use dates along with places to help you search for specific pictures faster.

Move Files

Moving your files is the next step, and we won’t sugarcoat it. If you have a lot of files scattered throughout your hard drive and online storage, you’ll need to move with deliberation. e suggest you follow these steps: 1. Create all the folders and subfolders you mapped out on your list. 2. Deal with your desktop first. 3. Make sure the folder you want to fill up is visible in File Explorer. 4. Use your cursor to drag the file you want to move to the target folder and drop it there. Once you’ve cleared those files from your desktop, you can use the same process to move files scattered elsewhere on your hard drive – or online storage system – to their appropriate new folders. Be prepared to take your time with this. To borrow a phrase, “Rome wasn’t filed in a day.” If it takes you a week, that’s OK.

APRIL 2022 | AtlantaSeniorLife.com

ARTS

Peace and Purpose: The Artwork of Hedith Perdomo

Photos by Isadora Pennington

By Isadora Pennington In a quiet, sunlit corner surrounded by windows, artist Hedith Perdomo is hard at work. Her paintbrush, supported by both hands, delicately dances down the canvas. Adding just a touch here, a touch there, slowly an image emerges. Perdomo, now in her early 70s, is a grandmother, mother, widow, and artist. Born in a small rural village called Facatativa, Colombia, she was the seventh of eleven children. During her first year, civil war forced her family to relocate to Bogota and later Venezuela. There, her family lived on a hacienda and her father worked as a horse farmer. Her mother, a housewife, was responsible for raising the children and keeping the home. “My family spent a lot of time together,” said Perdomo, who recalls spending much of her childhood playing with her younger siblings. “I was a playful child, I always enjoyed art.” Growing up surrounded by nature, she found herself inspired by the beauty around her. Perdomo loved art and gravitated toward paintings and sculptures, particularly works in

the Renaissance style. At the age of 9, Perdomo left the family hacienda to attend boarding school in Bogota where she remained through her high school years. Common in that time and in her culture, Perdomo married young at 16. Her husband Jorge, an attorney who she describes as an honorable and intellectual man, was very dedicated to his family. Together

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they moved to Caracas where they raised five children. Not long after the birth of her last child, Perdomo began experiencing acute pain and swelling in her hands, feet, knees, and back. The pain became progressively severe, and she was eventually diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. At the age of 38 she could no longer walk and has been confined to a wheelchair

ever since. She did not allow her condition to define her, however, and she has continued to be a steadfast wife, mother, and now grandmother. In 2003, Perdomo began taking painting lessons with awardwinning Venezuelan fine artist and sculptor Naty Valle. Using art as a form of therapy, she was able to focus her attention, energy, and talents on creating beautiful works of art that depicted vibrant landscapes, still lifes, and floral displays. In the years since, her passion for art and her creative acumen have deepened even further. She now regularly shows her works in museums and galleries across the United States and abroad. “I had gallery representation in Caracas while living there for many years,” explained Perdomo, who recently moved to Atlanta and is now actively seeking local gallery representation. Perdomo has been living in the United States for many years, following a successful petition to relocate her and Jorge launched by her son who lives in Texas. “In Venezuela, there was political unrest, and it was very unsafe to continue to live there so we decided to leave,” said Perdomo. For a time, they lived in Memphis until the passing of her husband, which prompted a shift for Perdomo. “I have a daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter who live in Atlanta and they asked me to come, so I did.” It is not uncommon for Perdomo to spend between 10 to 12 hours painting in a given day, a devotion which brings her great peace and purpose but also poses a significant challenge given her arthritis and physical restrictions. “It is worth painting for me,” Perdomo said, noting that painting helps her forget about her pain for a while. “Sometimes we put our own limitations on ourselves. We must try to find something positive that we love that we can do for ourselves.” Working from reference photos of scenes she finds in nature and in her surroundings, she is very specific in her attempts to capture

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exactly the right angle, light, or perspective that speaks to her vision. When painting on her easel at home she often flips her canvases – and their respective reference photos – to ensure that she can comfortably reach the areas she needs to paint. “My paintings are my legacy as an artist,” Perdomo said with pride. “I hope that others will continue to enjoy my art and will feel inspired and happy and at

peace. I want others to feel that when looking at my paintings, they can transport themselves to those places and feel joy.”

To view more of Perdomo’s paintings and learn more about her story, visit her website at hedithperdomo.com.

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Atlanta Senior Life - April 2022

Articles inside

TRAVEL Exploration closer to home yields a Toccoa travelogue

FROM THE CRATES Like a boss

PERSONAL PLANNING It’s spring! Time to clean out the closets

ARTS Peace and Purpose The Artwork of Hedith Perdomo

PERSONAL SAFETY Even on Ga. 400, slow down and keep things mellow

PEOPLE Tucker volunteers promote walking for wellness

PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY Organize your digital files